Little Big Sister
by Demonabyss
Summary: Maria Potter  FemHarry  finds out far more about her heritage than either she or the wizarding world thought. Now the powers of twisted science and dark magic will meet head on. What will be the result? The effects of Rapture are felt far beyond the sea.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy

Little Big Sister

By Demonabyss

Chapter 1: Echoes in the Attic

Maria Potter was a quiet girl. Ask anyone and they would tell you that she rarely if ever said anything. Hardly a word came out of her. This wasn't because she was mute nor was it because she was stupid, no far from that. Instead, she would quietly watch and observe, taking every detail in. Why this was so, very few knew other than Maria herself.

The reason was because of her "family", in the loosest sense of the term. Quite simply, they were horrible. They treated her as little more than the filth one would find on the bottom of their shoes. Maria's relatives consisted of her uncle Vernon Dursley, her aunt Petunia, and her cousin Dudley. Vernon was an overweight, whale of a man with a short temper that caused him to change colors. He was usually complaining about something going on at his job selling drills and took his frustrations out on Maria, verbally and physically. Petunia was her mother's sister and was a thin woman with one hell of a nasty streak. She demanded total normalcy and perfection and thus added to the verbal and mental abuse heaped on by her husband. The last of the family, Dudley, was a smaller but still quite large version of Vernon that was spoiled in every way possible. He and his gang terrorized the neighborhood and Maria got the blame. Everything that Maria should've gotten went to him, even the second bedroom. She was displaced to the cupboard under the stairs.

However, Maria wasn't normal, not by anyone's standards. The young girl was smart, scarily smart. She could read and understand things well above her age. Contrary to the Dursley's ranting of her being an idiotic delinquent, she spent most of her free time in the public library reading anything she could get her hands on, usually science, math, physics books and mystery novels. As a result, she was very observant and would notice things others missed, though none really knew this.

Physically she wasn't normal either. For one thing she was really tall for her age, so much so that many thought she was older than she actually was. Also while her cousin was more or less a pig walking upright, Maria was more on the thin side. Not anorexic or malnourished, just trim and lean both from all the chores she did and from her natural shape. Oh the Dursleys had initially tried to starve the girl and dress her in Dudley's old hand-me-downs, but she had put a stop to that with logic and their own self-concern over normalcy.

**-FLASHBACK START-**

A 5-year-old Maria Potter sat at the table, dressed in Dudley's oversized clothes that would be far too large on a normal person, let alone someone of her thin build. On her plate were a few measly scraps despite having cooked the dinner herself. For some time she had been thinking of a way to get some decent food and tonight was her chance. Why? Because tonight was garbage night.

Petunia glared at the thin girl before barking out orders. "Girl, go throw away the scraps and take out the trash," she said harshly.

Maria nodded and muttered just loud enough for her aunt to hear. "Hopefully the neighbors won't see me."

Petunia looked sharply at the girl when she said that. "Girl, what are you muttering about? Speak up immediately!" she barked as Vernon and Dudley watched with interest.

Maria whimpered, hoping this would work. "Well I was just wondering what the other people on the street would think at seeing all this wasted food or me in Dudley's old clothes?"

That stopped Vernon or Petunia from yelling at her immediately and started thinking. While they did hate the girl, she did have a point. "Vernon, if people see her like this they may start asking questions about where she came from. Also what if _THEY_ are watching?" she said nervously.

Vernon however wasn't quite as afraid as his wife. "Now Pet, they haven't bothered us since we took the brat. Besides, who's going to care what the girl looks like?" he asked unconcerned.

Petunia however seemed to know better. "Vernon, just because we know the brat is a freak doesn't mean others will understand. What if they call the police? Our reputation would never recover and what if they hear about this at Grunnings? It could cost you your job. What if _THEY_ come and find her in this state. True we've been treating her as she's deserved, but they won't believe that. Plus how will it look to the neighbors if we're wasting all this food with four people here?" she explained, fear lacing through her voice. Whether it was from the neighbors finding out, the police coming, or from this mysterious group, the girl couldn't say.

The little girl watched the conversation intently, wondering who this ominous THEY her aunt was referring too. Whoever she was talking about, they were important and her relatives were obviously scarred of them, more her aunt then her uncle for some reason. That led her to believe she knew more than her uncle. She also noted that the last time these people encountered the Dursleys was when she was dropped off here. Those thoughts were filed away for later as she watched her uncle frown in thought.

While Vernon hated to admit it, Petunia had a few good points. He rounded on the girl staring at her with his cruel eyes. "All right girl, you will eat everything that's left over, I don't care what it is. I will not have this family's reputation ruined by your freakishness! Got it!" he demanded of her. The black-haired girl only nodded, not trusting herself to speak at this point. "Also, tomorrow you and Petunia are going shopping for some fitting clothes. They will be cheap and inexpensive so as not to burden this family any more then you already have, is that clear?" he again demanded of her.

Maria nearly snorted at the burden comment but held it back knowing that doing so now would lead to a painful end. Instead she said simply, "Yes Uncle Vernon," and then did as ordered, eating the leftovers and taking out the garbage quickly and quietly with a hidden grin on her face.

**-FLASHBACK END-**

After that, she now had plenty to eat and had fitting clothes, though as her uncle had said they were cheap. There had been a similar incident in regards to her school work. Originally they had gotten angry whenever she did better than Dudley until she mentioned that he had different classes than her and that they were probably harder than hers. Plus if she did well then Petunia could brag to all the neighbors, which had been the big selling point. After that they had eased up, allowing the girl to do her work to her full ability.

In any case, it wasn't just her unusual height that made her abnormal. It was her athletic ability and her rapid healing ability. Dudley found out, much to his and his gang's displeasure, that Maria was extremely fast, agile, and had incredible endurance. More than once when they tried to bully her she had avoided them and led them on a chase. It always ended with all of them winded, sweating like they had just run a marathon while she hadn't even broken a sweat. True they weren't in the best of shape but the result was still there. Best of all they couldn't pin it as being her fault out of pride. No way would Dudley or his gang admit to being outdone by a girl.

One of the more freaky things about her was her unnatural healing. Any bruise, cut, or injury was healed within minutes, faster if she was properly fed. The Dursleys saw this as somewhat of a blessing despite the freakishness of it. It meant they could abuse her and not have to worry too much about evidence. It was a double edged sword for them as well as it meant that any injuries didn't last long and had little if any long lasting effect.

The most disturbing thing about Maria was her eyes though. Under normal circumstances they were an emerald green that would pierce your soul. However, if she got too emotional they would shift, if only for a moment. They would change from their normal green with white and to being haunting yellow all the way with no other color. It only happened in flashes, but it was enough to make everyone weary of her.

Currently the girl was cleaning out the attic for her relatives. It wasn't a bad job and it kept her away from them. During her cleaning she noticed something. It was tucked away underneath boxes of old junk. It was an old trunk with the name Eleanor Delta Sinclair printed on the face plate. 'Who's Eleanor Delta Sinclair?' The trunk had a weird lock that didn't have a key hole of any kind. Without thinking she placed her hand over it and bent to look the thing over. All of a sudden she felt a sharp prick on the palm of her hand, causing her to immediately back away. 'The thing bit me!' she thought surprised. She was even more surprised when the trunk actually opened on its own. Curious she cautiously looked inside

There were a couple of cases with a bunch of weird hypodermic needles filled with a red liquid that looked like it was glowing. Each of the needles was marked with an odd picture. The first one had a man who looked like he was concentrating and a spoon that was bending. The next had a hand with lightning bolts coming out of it. Another also had a hand but this one had what looked like icicles on it. 'What is all this?' The ten-year-old thought as she looked through the trunk. The inside was somehow larger than the outside though she didn't really notice as she looked deeper. There were papers, notes, books, and odd photographs. All of it looked like research material from a lab. She glanced up and noticed something attached to the inside of the hood of the trunk. It was a tape recorder, at least it looked like one, but the design was different from anything she had seen before. Next to it was a picture of a group of people. There were two young women, one with short black hair and another with long red hair, and a dark haired man with glasses. Picking the picture and the recorder up, Maria hit the play button, hoping to get some answers.

The device started and the voice of a young woman quietly entered the attic. "Hello Maria," it said surprising the girl. "If you're hearing this, it means that the time has come and the Potters have decided to tell you who and what you are." Maria started at this, wondering just what this phantom woman was talking about.

The voice sighed before speaking again. "To start with, my name is Eleanor Delta Sinclair, though my birth name was Eleanor Lamb, and … I'm your mother." Maria sat there in shock. Her mother? Her mother was Lily Potter … wasn't it? The voice, Eleanor, continued. "I know this may seem a bit of a shock but it is true. You're probably wondering what all the papers and equipment in this trunk is and why you're with the Potters in the first place."

'Actually I'm wondering why I'm with the Dursleys but I don't think that matters at the moment,' she absently thought as she continued to listen to her mother's explanation.

"Firstly, I wasn't born in any known city or country." Okay, now this was getting weird. "I was born in a city called Rapture, hidden under waves where few if any could find it. The city was originally created to be a place of freedom, a place where people could be free of oppressive governments and religion. If you wish to know more you can listen to the audio diary tapes provided in this trunk." Maria looked through as she said this and noticed some stacks of tapes in one of the corners that were bound tightly together and secured to the side of the trunk.

Eleanor sighed again before continuing. "Unfortunately, Rapture's freedom eventually became its fall. The scientific freedom allowed for the development of a chemical called Adam. This chemical could allow people to alter their bodies anyway they wished, making them faster, smarter, stronger, and even giving them god-like powers." Well, that explained the syringes somewhat. "Adam was considered a miracle drug, but it had a steep price. Overuse caused physical and mental decay, driving users insane with want for it. Even worse was the only source of Adam were Little Sisters, young girls altered to produce Adam in their bodies and to crave the leftover Adam in corpses."

Maria gulped as she listened. This was getting really creepy for her as her supposed mother continued to talk about this lost city. Where was this leading to anyway? Eleanor started listening again. "I was the first Little Sister to have a Big Daddy, a type of body guard for Little Sisters. Neither he nor I choose to be so, but we came to care about each other in that time. Eventually my biological mother Sophia Lamb found me, killed my Big Daddy, and changed me back to normal, though not because I was her daughter. Over ten years I was sedated and dosed with Adam regularly by her. She wanted me to become a servant of the people, to work for the common good and not question it. Sophia wanted me to be little more than a powerful figurehead for her beliefs."

Maria was really tempted to hit the stop button at this point. If, and this was a very BIG if, what this woman was saying was true, then what did that make her? Was she human or one of these Little Sisters? There was also the question of how she had ended up with the Potters and then the Dursleys. Deciding against stopping at this point, she continued to listen to the tape. "Her own beliefs twisted her. She had tried to basically take all of Rapture and shove them forcefully into my mind through Adam. I fought back though. I was able to bring my Big Daddy, Subject Delta, back to life and with the help of a man named Augustus Sinclair, we escaped Rapture. Unfortunately only I made it to the surface alive." A moment of silence as the implications of that statement sank in.

"I was alone, with nowhere to go and only the memories and knowledge of Rapture's greatest minds in my head and the armor on my back. I also had the rescued Little Sisters with me. Not knowing where to go, I got us all to the mainland. I eventually made contact with the local authorities and had all the girls returned to their families. They all swore never to speak of Rapture or its horrors. After that, I was … alone." Maria paused at that. The way Eleanor had said alone made it seem like it was the first time in her life. Considering the story however, that may have been true.

"I wandered the countries, trying to figure out what I should do. For the longest time, my freedom was my only goal but now that I had it, now what? I decided then that I would travel, see the world that my mother so adamantly cursed. But first I would seal any entrances to Rapture as well as gather any last bits of technology or knowledge before seeing the world. It was May 1969 when I finally set out."

There was a pause. "Over the next six years I traveled the world and saw many things. During that time, I learned more about myself. For starters, because of my extreme exposure to Adam, I didn't age as fast as normal people. I expect you may potentially have the same condition. I moved from place to place, learning different things and basically living like a drifter. In 1975 I was in London England when I discovered the magical world."

Now Maria was really intrigued. The Dursleys disliked anything not considered "normal" but absolutely loathed magic or anything to do with it. Even saying the word magic was forbidden in this house. The girl had always wondered why and now she might get an answer. "I had found it by accident when men in black robes wearing pale masks and wielding sticks attacked where I was staying at the time. At first I thought them to be escaped mutants from Rapture given the energies they threw around. I quickly realized they were not. They were too organized, too efficient, too sane to be Splicers from Rapture. I realized that these weren't Rapture escapees but something else entirely. I donned my Big Sister suit in order to face them."

Big Sister suit? Wasn't she a Little Sister? "A Big Sister is what a Little Sister becomes when they grow up if they aren't changed back into a normal girl. Like Big Daddies they are guardians of Little Sisters and kept Rapture in balance. But while Big Daddies were the front-line soldiers, Big Sisters were assassins." Maria shivered at the tone Eleanor used, cold, serious, simple fact. "They did not know what hit them as I slaughtered them with no remorse. These were murders and terrorists and deserved no mercy for what they were doing. They never expected someone to fight back, let alone outmatch and kill them. In little time, they were dead."

"After taking down the last one, I wondered who or what these people were. A few had fled when they realized there was no hope against me. I heard people coming and quickly disappeared and hid to see what happened next. More people in robes with sticks appeared, but these were dress in uniforms with badges, similar to police. I watched as they picked apart the area like a crime scene, though in an odd and poor manner in my opinion," she said with a chuckle.

"I overheard them talking, mentioning the Leaky Cauldron. Deciding to investigate, I looked for the place and eventually found it in London. From there I entered the magical world. I learned a war was going on. A madman by the name of Voldemort was waging a terrorist campaign to wipe out all those who weren't directly descended from other magic users. I had seen things like this before and decided to help out. For the next five years I waged my own guerrilla war against the Death Eaters, Voldemort's followers. They were scared to death of me," Eleanor said with a chuckle. Maria had to smile at that. If what she was hearing was true, then she bet they were scared.

"I gained quite a few nicknames over the years. Black Death, Red Eye, the Ghost, Banshee, the One-Eyed Demon, Big Sister. During that time I also got to know the wizards and witches fighting against Voldemort as well. While they did not trust me completely as they didn't know who or what I was, we had a professional relationship. The leader of the Light Albus Dumbledore however hated me. He saw me as a monster due to my lethal methods and the fact that I didn't follow him blindly like everyone else. Despite his grandfatherly appearance, I considered him little different than Voldemort or Sophia Lamb. Turns out my suspicions were right." Maria narrowed her eyes as she listened to the story. This Dumbledore character sounded important … and dangerous.

"However, things changed drastically for in September 1979. There was a battle at the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic. The Aurors (magical police), a secret group called the Order of the Phoenix led by Dumbledore, and myself battled against the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters. Apparently he had wanted to raid the place for dark artifacts of power. While the Death Eaters were throwing lethal spells, it seemed I was the only one moving to kill the enemy. Everyone else on the Light side were using stunning spells due to Dumbledore's and the Ministry's orders." The black-haired girl snorted at that. Had they actually expected to win fighting that way? She was now starting to wonder at the common sense the Light wizards had.

"As the battle raged I was covered in the blood of those I had killed and injured as well as those injured that I had saved. During the fight, I was hit by a powerful blasting spell and knocked into a room full of strange potions. I moved to get out of there as I knew better than most how dangerous chemicals could be, magical or mundane. Before I could move, more spells were fired and I was drenched with the strange potions. At the time I didn't think anything happened, so I continued to fight. Once the battle was over, I went to my home to rest, not knowing at the time what those potions combined with all that blood did to me."

Eleanor sighed as the tape continued, getting closer to the end from the look of it. "It was shortly after that I found out what had happened. The potions combined with all that blood had seeped through my suit and when combined with my unique genetic structure, caused a reaction. In short, I was pregnant." Maria sat there stunned in a moment of silence before the recording continued. "I went back and found the potions I had been drenched with were for blood adoption rituals and fertility and pregnancy potions since witches conceive a lot less than non-magical women. That combined with the gene altering properties of the Adam in my system, caused me to get pregnant with you."

"As a result, I lessened my attacks to the point where I had become a rumor. Even with all of Rapture's medical knowledge in my head I was still worried to death about losing you. I didn't think I was able to have children after what my mother put me through," she said in a wistful tone before continuing. "You were born July 31, 1980. I couldn't stop crying as I held you. You were so cute and even then I couldn't believe it." Maria could practically hear the tears coming down her mother's eyes.

Eleanor's tone however changed to something more sorrowful now. "However, it was not to be. Shortly after I had you, I went on another mission, leaving you with the Potters as they were some of the few that truly trusted me. No one else knew of my friendship with them as I had them swear a magical oath of silence. The mission I went on was to infiltrate a Death Eater stronghold and retrieve some artifact called a horcrux. It was supposedly important to Voldemort. It was the last mission I ever went on." Maria's eyes widened as her mother's tone became even more morose. "At that point in the war, Voldemort was desperate to kill me as I was his biggest threat, even more then Dumbledore, simply because I was willing to kill while other fighters for the Light were not. Voldemort had set a trap for me. He ambushed me with a group of Death Eaters and while they kept me busy, one of his elite readied a secret weapon. It was a gas distilled and modified from the venom of a Basilisk, extremely lethal and toxic, able to burn through most materials including my suit. They didn't care about their comrades who died being burned inside and out from the stuff, as long as it killed me. Since I was so busy dealing with them it burned through my helmet and I inhaled some of it before I got away."

There was some coughing now as Maria's mother's voice started to sound weaker then when it started the story. "I got back to the Potters, barely, and told them what happened. That was five hours ago." Another cough. "They tried to get Dumbledore's phoenix to give some tears as that was the only thing known to counter basilisk venom but the old man forbade it when he learned who it was for. He would not let a "heartless killer" get out of what they deserved. Hypocritical bastard," Eleanor sneered in her voice. Maria silently agreed. "Now I sit here recording this after gathering everything from Rapture I could and putting it in this trunk for you. The Adam in my body is trying to fight off the basilisk venom gas but it can't for long. Inside the trunk you'll find a number of plasmids and tonics, all labeled and will grant you their abilities without you having to worry about side-effects due to the Adam your system naturally produces. The plasmid with the triangle symbol, the symbol of Delta, is unique. It contains all the memories and minds of Rapture including mine and my father's. Please know daughter that I love you and that this trunk is my final gift to you. Use what is in here if you need to." She stopped as she had a coughing fit. "Once you do there is no going back. What you do with the power they grant is up to you. My only request is that you do not hate the Potters for none of this is their fault and they will take care of you after I am gone. Stay safe my little Maria and know that I love you." The tape then ended just as another coughing fit hit her.

Maria sat in silence as she tried to process what she had just listened to. Cities under the ocean? Controlled genetic mutation? Wizards and witches? Either her mother had been completely insane or Maria had stepped into the Twilight Zone. There was also the slim possibility that the voice really had been her mother and that everything she had said was true. The ten-year old looked down at the syringes and found the one with the triangle on it, the symbol for Delta. If her mother was telling the truth, then this one contained all of Rapture's memories, including her mother's. She picked it and looked at the red, glowing liquid inside the thing. Best case scenario this was all true and this would grant her the minds and memories of the best minds of Rapture at the time along with her mother's memories. Worst case it was a poison and she would die. Was the gain worth the risk? 'Better question is what, do I really have to lose?' she asked herself as she thought of her life with the Dursleys. She looked at the syringe and pierced her skin with the needle. Gritting her teeth and closing her eyes, she pulled the trigger and injected the red substance into her blood stream. Immediately her body was racked with pain as her world went black.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy.

Little Big Sister

By Demonabyss

Chapter 2: A Stranger in a Strange Land

It had been nearly a year since Maria injected herself with the Delta plasmid. That had been one of the most painful experiences in her life, but also the most beneficial. It turned out that tape with her mother's voice had been true. The girl had gained all of Rapture's greatest minds, her mother's, and more in that vial. It went without saying that the headache she had received was legendary. She had been knocked out for hours though the Dursleys never noticed or cared.

When she woke up, there were hundreds if not thousands of voices in her head all vying for her attention. She nearly screamed until they were silenced by two very powerful, very distinct voices. One of the voices was that of an older man, low and groaning, that spoke in strange whale like calls that she could somehow understand, her grandfather Subject Delta. The other voice was that of a woman, fierce yet calm, her mother Eleanor. Each of the voices had a mental impression when they came to the forefront. The mental impression she got of Delta was of a huge man in an armored diving suit with a drill on the right hand. Her mother's voice had the image of a tall woman also in a diving suit with a large needle attached to her left arm. The voices finally quieted down and Maria was able to get up before the Dursleys got mad … well madder than normal anyway.

Over the year she had systematically organized all the memories in her mind, a little each day. Maria used the mental image and structure of Rapture to organize all the memories and minds in her head. The image was a combination of before and after Rapture's fall, making her mind a very dangerous and twisted place under the sea, forged by her will and the collective wills of those now within her. Her mother had mentioned Legilimency, a wizard skill to read minds. To this end, she placed defense after defense in her mind. The first was water. Everything in her mind was under water unlike other people who had their defenses in open air. The pressure alone would at least stop most invaders if not outright kill them. She then filled the water with all sorts of sea creatures; sharks, whales, stingrays, eels, fish of all kinds, and even a few extinct aquatic creatures. If someone got past all that and actually made it into the city itself, there were a legion splicers waiting for them. The memories from the people she had gained from the Delta plasmid were represented by the people themselves in her mind and could aid in its defense if necessary. Her memories and any important information took on the form of Little Sisters guarded by Big Daddies. Her last lines of defense were the Big Sisters and Alpha Series Big Daddies, who roamed around her mind at random, keeping things in order and taking out anything even perceived as a threat.

The information and minds still weren't fully organized but it was much better then when she first got them. At the beginning she wasn't sure which memory belonged to who and in more than one instance confused her own name with someone's from Rapture. In any case, she now had an understanding of math and science, especially genetics and biology that many research facilities couldn't fathom. There were also memories and knowledge of things that, quite frankly, sickened and scared her. The people in Rapture had always been deranged in her opinion; the Adam just brought it out and magnified it.

During her mental cleanup, she had found things the belonged neither to her mind or to those she had gained from Rapture. The first thing she found were odd chains, for lack of a better description, leading from the center of her mind to somewhere outside of it oddly enough. Unable to break them initially, she had set several images of Big Daddies on them to break them over time. Already many of the chains were very weak and getting ready to snap. Another thing she had found was not only a chain but an incomplete tunnel leading to somewhere, again outside her mind. Running through the tunnel was a large black chain that just felt wrong to her. While she would normally close the tunnel, she couldn't plus the black chain was much more resistant than any of the others. She decided on building a series of gates that couldn't be opened from the other side. Like the others, a group of Big Daddies were charged with disconnecting the thing like the others. Already, most chains and that tunnel were nearly broken and or sealed or would be soon.

Along with the Delta plasmid, she had also taken the telekinesis plasmid as well as a few body and mind boosting tonics, just minor ones though. It was to help make up for the lack of care she received when she was a baby before she tricked the Dursleys as well as to help organize the influx of memories she had received. They had also helped in her new project, plasmid evolution. The girl wanted to make them even better then when they were developed in Rapture. Another project of hers that was actually going better was the repair and upgrade of her mother's old Big Sister suit.

She studied the plasmids and how they worked. They were initially designed to work independently of one another with the only exception being the wind trap plasmid. However, those methods only worked by using the wind trap first and then a second one, not using them at the same time or in unison. Maria was trying to figure out ways to fully combine the different plasmids. So far her research hadn't really gone anywhere even with all of Rapture's scientific minds in her head. The reason being was because she simply had no equipment to work with and she had to hide all this from the Dursleys. Still, looking at the information pointed to the very real possibility of them being combined. The ideas she had for them were both brilliant and scary. The dark-haired girl shivered at the thought.

Today was a normal day. Maria had made breakfast and was quietly serving the Dursleys. Her body was on autopilot as she mentally continued to organize her mind. It was basically rebuilding Rapture mentally and no less exhausting. In any case, the mail came in and Maria automatically went to get it. Mouthing off would've done nothing and besides, if her mother's memories were correct, she would be getting a very special letter soon.

Her mother, despite being the bane of death eaters and other followers of Voldemort, had only limited knowledge of the wizarding world. This was due to the fact that she was focused on killing those bastards and protecting mundane people. What memories she had of the magical world and its culture were spotty at best. Overall they painted a picture of a world stuck in the dark ages and highly afraid of change, especially by muggle born and half bloods, which was idiotic in Eleanor's opinion. Then again, Eleanor had lived, if you want to call it that, in a city under the waves that was quite advanced for its time where advancement and change was literally everything. In a sense, they were two extreme ends of a very weird spectrum.

In any case, it was a normal day, at least until the mail came. Maria went and got it without complaint. She knew something was coming. 'And here it is,' she thought as she fingered the Hogwarts letter. She opened it and scanned through it. 'Blah, blah, blah list of materials, professor to visit to explain things, interesting.' She read the last part as it was signed by Dumbledore himself along with his many titles. 'So my mother's murderer not only leads a vigilante group but is also headmaster of this school and holds several high positions of government. Apparently the magical world doesn't realize the dangers of giving one man so much control,' she thought to herself. Grabbing some paper and a pencil, she began to write her response.

Days after she had sent her response, saying she'd be delighted and asking for someone to come and answer her questions, Professor Minerva McGonagall walked up the house that was identical to all the others on the street. The same house she had left the daughter of two of her favorite students at and in the care of the worst sort of muggles she had ever known. The aging professor sighed and knocked on the door, hoping that Maria was in relatively good shape. Considering she had been able to write back, she had hope.

Maria opened the door to find an elderly lady in robes. She raised an eyebrow in question, acting like she had no clue what to think while her mom provided her information about this woman. She was Minerva McGonagall, professor of transfiguration, and Deputy Headmistress at Hogwarts. She was also a member of the Order of the Phoenix and under Dumbledore's command. However, McGonagall did sometimes question the headmaster's actions and was willing to give her mother a chance despite the fact that she used lethal force. This led Maria into thinking that if she was willing to give her mother a chance than she could at least return the favor. "May I help you?" she asked calmly.

McGonagall gave the tall girl a quick once over and saw that she was in relatively okay condition, given that she feared the worst from the Dursleys. "I'm Professor McGonagall. I am here to see Maria Potter," she stated simply.

"That would be me. Would you like to come in? Only my aunt is home at the moment," she said as she let the woman in. "Aunt Petunia, we have a guest," she called back to the kitchen.

The horse faced woman entered the living room and went pale at the sight of the transfiguration professor. "YOU! What are you doing here?" she cried out in rage.

McGonagall was unaffected by Petunia's outburst. "I am here to escort Miss Potter to get her school things for the upcoming year," she said simply.

This only further enraged the muggle woman. "How? She never got a letter!" she cried out until she turned towards Maria herself who was smirking. It then hit her, what the brat had done. She had hidden the letter and wrote a reply without any of them knowing. She now knew about her freakish heritage and it was highly unlikely that she could prevent the girl from going. It was her sister Lily all over again! She had been unable to get her sister to stay and she doubted she could do the same now. "Fine! Take the deceitful little brat with you! Maybe if she's lucky she'll be blown up just like her worthless parents!" she cried out as she stormed out of the room, wanting absolutely nothing to do with this and knowing she'd have to explain it to Vernon and Dudley when they returned home.

Maria turned to the teacher, questions obviously on her face. "Blown … up?" she asked cautiously. While she had long suspected the car crash story to be false, this hinted at something more sinister.

McGonagall sighed. "I'll explain later Maria, I promise, but we must be on our way," she said. The girl nodded and followed, wondering where this new path in life would take her.

As they made their way through London, Maria went over the new little piece of information her Aunt had given her at their departure. While she had never believed that stupid car crash story, the words "blown up" opened a whole new set of possibilities, some of which would be acceptable such as an accident with magic … or something far more serious. She turned to the elderly teacher, "Professor, what did my aunt mean by blown up? She told me they both were drunks that died in a car crash. Also, where in London can we get these supplies?"

Minerva sighed and led the two into a small café, ordering tea for the two of them. "Alright Miss Potter, before we get to where we need to go I think I have a few things I need to explain since it seems your aunt has told you nothing. First, your parents were not drunks nor did they die in a car crash. They were two of finest people I've ever known and like you were magical." She sighed for a moment before continuing. "To explain what happened to them, you have to understand that not all witches and wizards are good people. Years ago, a dark lord rose named … Lord Voldemort. Normally we refer to him as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named or You-Know-Who."

Maria nearly snorted at this. Fear of a person was one thing; fear of a name of a supposedly dead person was just plain stupid. "Forgive me Professor, but it sounds about as logical as a kid afraid of the monster under the bed," she stated simply.

The elderly woman shook her head. "It isn't only out of fear that we don't say his name. It is a reminder of the dark times he brought and even worse, there are ways for a dark wizard to know if a name has been spoken and to track it." That caught Maria's interest. There was far more to magic than what her mother had originally known and Maria planned to learn everything she could. "He started a civil war in our world, using Death Eaters, his followers, to cause terror. They believed that only those with magical ancestry, or "pure blood" as they put it, were worthy of wielding magic. Muggle borns, those born to non-magical people, and Half-bloods, those with only one magical parent, were not seen as worthy in their eyes. Your parents were two people who actively fought him, but when you came along they went into hiding for a year." Maria nodded as this coincided with her mother's memories. The Potters had been two of her friends and had helped her through her pregnancy during that year in secret. "As a result, the Dark Lord went after them after they were betrayed."

"Betrayed by whom?" Maria asked quietly though inside she was ticked. Betrayal was a serious crime to her given what her grandmother Sophia Lamb did and what the Dursleys put her through. There was an old saying that the deepest circle of hell was reserved for betrayers and that was something she fully believed.

McGonagall scowled as she spoke. "Their hiding location was given to the Dark Lord by Sirius Black who had been one of their closest friends during their time in Hogwarts. The Dark Lord came and killed both your parents, just like he did to anyone else who opposed him. However, when he got to you something happened. He cast the killing curse at you but it was somehow reflected back at him, killing him instead and giving you that scar," she said pointing to the girl's forehead.

"Killing curse?" she asked for appearance sake. Eleanor's memories of her time in the Wizarding world provided plenty of information about that specific curse. She also had a feeling this had something to do with those strange chains she had found in her mind that she was trying to break.

"It is a dark spell that instantly kills anything it hits and is unable to be blocked by anything. No one has ever survived it, except you. That is why, in our world you are famous, you're the Girl-Who-Lived," the Professor explained. "Afterwards you were placed with the Dursleys as they were you last living relatives for your own protection. There were still followers of the Dark Lord about and we wanted to keep you safe and hidden."

Maria sat in silence, going over this information and analyzing it quickly. Already she was finding a few … inconsistencies with the with what she had just been told. "You said the Dark Lord used this killing curse on me, how do you know that?" she asked which seemed to startle the Professor. "I mean, were their witnesses, was an investigation put into it, some tests done, or what?" she asked.

McGonagall looked stunned for a moment before opening her mouth than closing it in confusion. "Well … no there weren't," she said slowly. "When we found you and took you to the Dursleys, the house was collapsed and you're parents and the Dark Lord dead. Considering the killing curse was what he used the most, we just assumed that's what happened," she tried to explain, though it seemed feeble even to her own ears.

The girl's eyes narrowed. "You said we again, who's we? It was you and who else who left me at the Dursleys?" she asked in an almost dangerous voice.

Once again the teacher was stunned at the girl's voice and question. "Well you were found by Hagrid, the groundskeeper of Hogwarts and Dumbledore, the headmaster and brought to the Dursleys where they placed you there, again to keep you hidden, despite my objections at the time," she explained.

"So you're saying that no investigation of any sort was done into what had actually happened, there were no actual witnesses, that only you three had actually been to the scene after the fact, and had me placed at the Dursleys to keep me hidden. Does that about sum things up?" Maria said seriously. McGonagall could only nod a little unnerved by the girl's mind and tone of voice. "Then which of you blabbed?" she asked suddenly.

Again, McGonagall was surprised. "What?"

"You said you placed me with the Dursleys to keep me hidden, that only you three had any idea of what happened, yet I'm famous as the Girl-Who-Lived. That means at least one of you blabbed to the public and it spiraled from there, painting a rather large target on my forehead for the remaining Death Eaters which you said were still out there. So again, I ask which you blabbed my existence to the public when it would've been better to say nothing and let them come to their own conclusions, whatever those may be," she asked seriously.

The Hogwarts professor was stunned silent. There was far more to this girl than she originally thought. Most children wouldn't ask questions like she did nor come to such conclusions so fast. Indeed, it seemed Maria Potter was special in ways none in the Wizarding world had expected. "I honestly don't know Miss Potter. All I can tell you is that it was not me who said anything at first. I only spoke of it after it became public knowledge. What I can say for certain is that you survived a magical incident when you should have died," she explained to which Maria nodded.

The two made their way to the Leaky Cauldron in silence, both going over what they talked about. The information Maria had gained pointed to something big going on. The lack of investigation and the fact that someone leaked out information better left hidden pointed to some type of cover up with her at the center. McGonagall was disturbed by the questions the girl asked, especially when she had no real answers for the girl. They quickly and quietly went through to avoid any staring.

Diagon Alley was a site to behold. Witches and wizards all going from place to place, shopping, talking, it was a beehive of activity. Seeing it from her mother's memories was one thing, but seeing it in person was totally different. The two headed to Gringotts Bank, which was run by the goblins. While Maria knew the Potters had an account here and were fairly well off, what happened to said account after they died was unknown and she intended to find out. They walked up to the nearest teller. "Greetings, what can we at Gringotts do for you?" the goblin asked simply.

McGonagall nodded in response before speaking. "Miss Potter here would like to access her vault please," she said simply.

It was then Maria spoke up, one of the voices in her head bringing up an important financial point. "I would also like a full audit of all my accounts please."

Both the goblin and McGonagall whipped their heads to look at the girl in shock. After a moment the goblin spoke in a quiet but surprised voice. "Does Miss Potter have her key and why do you want an audit done?"

Maria had an answer ready. "Because Sir, up until a half hour ago I had no idea Gringotts even existed let alone that I had an account here and I want to know exactly what I have here and what's been going on with it," she stated clearly. The goblin nodded at her answer and accepted the key from the professor.

The two now headed to Ollivander's for Maria's wand. After they had visited her trust vault and picked up some galleons, they headed out to pick up her supplies. They had already picked up her potion supplies and robes without incident. McGonagall had seen to it that no one noticed Maria as they went from place to place. During that time, both had been rather quiet, thinking on the questions Maria had asked and the lack of answers McGonagall had given.

As soon as they entered, an old man appeared from the back room. "Ah, Miss Potter, I was wondering when you would be entering my shop. It seems like only yesterday your parents came in here for their first wands." He then pulled out a wand from one of the many boxes inside his store. He handed it to Maria who gave it an experimental wave. The result was random blast destroying part of his shop's wall. Interestingly, the wall repaired itself though the owner barely noticed. "Nope not that one," he said as he took the wand and handed her another to try.

The process repeated over and over for about an hour with similar results each time. Soon, Ollivander brought out a wand with a strange look on his face. Maria picked it up and instantly she felt something. At first it felt like welcome warmth of sorts, as if meeting an old friend again, but something went wrong. The warmth became violent as the wand started to shake and crackle with energy. Immediately Maria threw the wand to the side as it exploded in a blast of flame, leaving nothing but charred remains that were still smoking. Both Maria and McGonagall turned to the wand maker in shock. "What kinda wand was that?" Maria asked in confusion.

The old man stared at the remains of the wand with a confused look of his own. "That should have matched," he muttered before turning to the two who were looking at him curiously. "You see, that wand was eleven inches, holly, with a phoenix tail feather as its core. I remember every wand I've ever sold Miss Potter and I suspected that wand would have been yours. The reason being that the phoenix that gave the tail feather gave only one other, which resided in the wand that gave you that scar," he said pointing to her forehead.

Immediately Maria's eyes narrowed as she remembered what she and the professor had talked about earlier. "How do you know that?" she asked suddenly much to the shop keeper's surprise. "How do you know which exact wand gave me this scar. According to Professor McGonagall here there was no investigation done. That also doesn't explain why you thought that wand would've been mine," she said motioning to the remains of the wand that had fizzled out by now.

Ollivander nodded before speaking. "You see, Albus Dumbledore came in shortly after that night with the wand to have it identified. As for the wand working for you, that was because he commissioned it for you," he said simply.

Maria's and McGonagall's eyes widened. "What do you mean, explain yourself," the Scotswoman demanded.

"Dumbledore commissioned her wand to be made using a tail feather from his phoenix Fawkes," he explained.

The girl's eyes narrowed, again finding inconsistencies in the information. "That still doesn't explain why you would expect that specific wand to be aligned with me. You must have thousands of wands here and the odds for that one to be matched to me specifically are unbelievable. The further odds of its counterpart being the dark lord's are also insanely high, and what does Dumbledore or his phoenix have to do with this?" she asked seriously.

The wand maker was surprised by the girl's tone just as McGonagall had been before. "Dumbledore commissioned both wands using tail feathers from his phoenix. The reason I suspected it would be a match was because he also provided your blood for it. Doing so nearly guarantees the wand will be a match. For it to have a reaction like that," he said motioning to the remains, "means that there must have been a major change in your blood between when he brought in the sample and now."

Immediately Maria knew why the wand had reacted, the Delta plasmid. If that didn't count as a major change in her blood she didn't know what did. But the question remained, why? "Assuming he did the same with the dark lord's wand," she half asked to which Ollivander nodded, "then when exactly did he commission these wands and what exactly would happen if the two met?" she asked.

Ollivander looked pleased at her questions. "He commissioned the dark lord's about a month before he started school and commissioned yours almost immediately after the night you got your scar. If the two had met in combat, there was a chance they would lock up and would cause a Priori Incantatem effect, forcing a battle will with the loser's wand displaying all it's previously cast spells."

"So to sum up, Dumbledore commissioned a wand for both me and the dark lord before we started school using his phoenix and our blood for each wand and if the two faced each other would have basically canceled each other out," Maria said simply, to which Ollivander nodded. "I see. Then let's continue. I want to find my wand, hopefully without someone's tampering of it," she stated as she continued to go over the information.

An additional half hour later they had finally found a wand for Maria. The wand was thirteen inches and made from the spine of a hydra, a legendary serpentine beast that when its head was cut off; two more would grow in its place, a semi self-evolving creature. The core was the scales of an Orochi, a monstrous eight-headed serpent with each head having its own elemental power. 'Huh, a self-evolving creature and one with many elemental powers, both with multiple heads. This wand suits me perfectly,' she thought as she handled it. The girl and the professor left the wand shop to pick up the rest of Maria's supplies.

The wand maker watched them go with a scrutinizing look on his face for a moment before breaking into a devilish smirk. 'That girl is dangerous,' he thought as he went over the questions she had asked. Not only did she pick up things that most would easily overlook, but if her wand was anything to go by, she would be a very powerful, if unorthodox witch. 'If Dumbledore thinks he's going to have another pawn for his chess board, then he's in for a rude awakening when a new player comes in instead,' the old man thought as the door to his shop closed.

AN: I hope you all like this. Please keep in mind that Maria will be a little nuts due to basically having Rapture in her head. I would like suggestions for her familiar. While Hedwig is awesome, she doesn't truly fit with Maria. I'm looking for something at least partially aquatic if possible. Please Read and Review.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy.

Little Big Sister

By Demonabyss

Chapter 3: Meetings

Professor McGonagall and Maria continued on their way from the wand shop to Flourish and Botts to collect the girl's books. On the way both of their minds were going over -the same information but in vastly different ways. Minerva McGonagall couldn't completely process what she had learned in the few short hours in the company of Maria Potter. Did Dumbledore or Hagrid spill the beans about Maria? She knew Hagrid, while a very kind and good fellow, couldn't keep a secret to save his life. However there was also the problem of him being a school dropout, any claim he would try to make about that night would be called into question on the grounds that he simply didn't have the education. Dumbledore on the other hand, people would believe without question. Why hide the girl in the Muggle world for her safety only to paint a perfect target on her forehead by identifying her to the public? There was also the matter of the commissioned wands. Commissioning wands was extremely rare nowadays and was usually only done when a recipient would be expected to be extremely powerful and thus required specialized materials. While commissioning one for Maria was somewhat understandable given her lineage and that night, why would Dumbledore commission one for the Dark Lord before he entered Hogwarts? Why use Fawkes' tail feathers in both of them if a reaction like that was possible? What was the point of it all?

The transfiguration professor glanced at the tall, eleven-year-old girl who was stacking book after book on the counter to purchase. Maria Potter was not what she had expected. After watching the Dursleys all day, she had expected Maria to be small, malnourished, abused; barely alive if at all, in short she had expected the worst. What she got was a girl who was nothing like James or Lily and was sharper than many adults she knew, Dumbledore and Snape included. While James and Lily had been intelligent, albeit in pranks and schoolwork respectively, Maria was extremely observant and very quick to catch onto things that even she had missed for years. How long had people been talking about the Girl-Who-Lived and she never questioned where the story came from? Where had those stories started? What was the point other than painting a target on the girl? She decided she would ask Dumbledore when she got back.

Maria was also thinking about Dumbledore as she looked for any books that caught her eye. Much of the strange information she had learned went back to him and his actions made very little sense. Going over what she had learned logically, she dissected each of his actions. First, he had left her with the Dursleys, people who hated magic with a passion to supposedly keep her hidden and consequently ignorant of her heritage had she not found her real mother's trunk. Then he most likely goes and blabs the story of her surviving the killing curse, making her a hero in the magical public's eye and a target to any remaining Death Eaters. What exactly did these contradictory actions accomplish?

The first, most likely reason is that he wanted her to see the magical world as a refuge since she is loved in this world but hated in the other. Keeping her ignorant would force her to look for guidance and who better than the headmaster of her school, one of the supposedly greatest wizards of all time? However, that still didn't fully explain why he had done all of this. Dumbledore wanted to manipulate her that much was clear, but to what end? Did he want to exploit her fame through her ignorance or was there something more? The information she had gleamed at the wand shop pointed to something far deeper than simply fame or money. Why would he go to all the trouble of commissioning wands that if they met would cancel each other out, especially if one of those wands was in his custody and originally belonged to a dead man? Did having a core from his phoenix give him some sort of control over the wand? If so why do it to the Dark Lord when he was a kid, before he began his terrorist campaign? Maria was certain she was still missing pieces to this puzzle, but what she did know pointed to some sort of massive set up of some kind. She would keep her eyes and ears open.

After getting her books, the two continued on until Maria felt something. She stopped suddenly and immediately turned towards the sensation. It felt like an odd tugging of some sort, as if there was something putting out a homing signal that only her brain could detect. McGonagall was surprised as her charge suddenly stopped and turned towards the Magical Menagerie. She quickly followed wondering what had caught the girl's attention.

The eleven-year-old entered the shop and immediately she could tell something was off. There was a faint smell in the air, something very familiar. As she looked around the shop at all the different creatures, trying to find the source of the tugging and the smell, her mind was working overtime to try and identify it. As she seemed to get closer to the source, her brain finally identified the smell and why it was so familiar. Adam. It was Adam, the substance that allowed for splicing, the stuff that caused the rise and fall of Rapture, more specifically the raw form of the stuff found in sea slugs. 'What the hell is it doing here and where is it coming from?' she thought as she continued to search for the source with renewed vigor.

Maria made her way to the back of the shop where the more exotic pets were. Her eyes scanned the room, looking for the source of the smell. Eventually her eyes landed on large fish tank in the back. While at first it seemed the tank was devoid of any life, Maria could tell it wasn't simply by the fact that the water was moving but there was nothing there to move it. The water also wasn't purely clear as it seemed to shimmer different colors despite the fact that there was very little light in this room. As the girl approached it, unaware that McGonagall and the shop's owner were watching intently, the water became more active. She stood in front of the tank, watching as the water swirled on its own into a miniature waterspout. The waterspout climbed until it was eye level with Maria and then formed into a feminine humanoid head. Both Maria and the water creature tilted their heads to side in unison, mimicking each other as they did. "Well, you're a curious creature aren't you?" Maria said with a smile as she held out her hand to the creature. The watery head looked down at the offered hand for a moment before sliding out of the tank and forming over the girl's hand and arm, creating what looked like a bubble of water over her whole arm and leaving the tank bone dry. "Excuse me, but what is this," she asked the shop keeper while motioning to her new liquid passenger.

The shop keeper was shocked out of his stunned state before speaking. "Well, it's an ashray," he explained.

McGonagall turned towards the man in shock. "That's not possible, ashrays can't live outside of water and can't form in sunlight," she stated in surprise.

The man shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you ma'am. All I know is that is no ordinary ashray. Apparently the guy who sold it to me said he caught it off the southwest coast of Iceland some time ago. Said he'd never seen anything like it before," the owner explained.

The girl's eyes widened when the shop owner gave the location where the ashray was from. That area wasn't very far from Rapture, or what was left of it, and with all the Adam and sea slugs in that area, it wasn't too farfetched to think that this ashray was affected. That also explained the smell; this creature was producing Adam in its body just like she did, though at a much lower rate than her. 'Well that settles it,' she thought before turning to the two adults. "How much for her?" she asked the store keeper, shocking him and getting what seemed to be a hug from the ashray.

Fifteen minutes and a few galleons lighter later, Maria left with her new pet ashray named Kendra. Talking with the owner, she had learned a few other quirks of her new pet. For one thing, while normal ashrays fed on liquids and tiny creatures such as plankton, this one could and would eat anything, though it did have a preference for meat. Most obvious was that unlike normal ashrays, this one didn't need to be in water to survive and could hold its shape in sunlight. Normal ashrays needed to be in water at all times and turned into puddles if exposed to sunlight. Kendra was also far more intelligent than other ashrays, many other creatures, or even some humans. Maria figured this herself when she noticed Kendra looking at everything in Diagon Alley as she and Professor McGonagall made their way back to Privet Drive. Currently, the altered ashray was riding in a modified water bottle attached to Maria's hip that was charmed to be much larger on the inside than the outside, giving her plenty of space to ride around in. Maria couldn't wait to show Kendra to Dudley. If she was the lucky the fat pig would scared to death to even use the toilet, much less bother her.

Later, Minerva McGonagall returned to Hogwarts feeling more confused than when she had left. Her time with Maria Potter had been enlightening in more ways than one. First, her expectations of the girl had been completely destroyed and second, her faith in Dumbledore had been shaken badly. She shook her head as she entered the Headmaster's office, the Headmaster and her fellow professors waiting for her.

Dumbledore smiled at her, a twinkle in his eye like always. "Ah Minerva welcome back. How was your trip?" he asked pleasantly until he saw the strange look on her face as she stared at him. "What's wrong? Was there something wrong with Miss Potter?" he asked in apparent concern.

Snape snorted but said nothing. Minerva sighed before speaking. "Nothing was wrong with her Albus, just disturbing." This caught everyone's attention. "It seems her aunt told her nothing of our world or her parents, saying they were drunks in a car crash."

Everyone looked appalled at this. Professor Sprout was the first to speak. "A car crash! How dare those muggles say such a thing!" she said indignantly to which everyone agreed. Even Snape had to frown at that. James Potter had been many things, but a drunk was not one of them and Lily most certainly hadn't been. "How was the girl?"

Minerva sighed before speaking. "Surprising," she said simply. "She is nothing like Lily or James. I expect she will end up in either in Ravenclaw or Slytherin."

Dumbledore lost his twinkle at this news. This was not what he wanted to hear. The wizard world's savior needed to be a heroic Gryffindor, not an intelligent Ravenclaw or Slytherin. "Why do you say that Minerva?" he asked concerned. Everyone was curious now, especially Snape since he never expected Minerva to suggest the spawn of James Potter to be in his house.

"The girl kept asking questions that I had no answers to about that night after I explained it to her. She wanted to know where the stories of her being the girl-who-lived came from when there were no witnesses or investigation done," McGonagall explained. She omitted the incident at Ollivander's due to Dumbledore's involvement. She decided that until she got more information that she wouldn't confront Dumbledore just yet. Everyone looked at each other as they too started to wonder about that. "She has also already found her familiar, an unusual ashray."

Filius Flitwick was the first to speak. "An ashray? That is a certainly strange familiar," he commented. McGonagall nodded, none of them realizing just how strange the ashray or her new owner truly was.

Maria walked through King's Cross station with her trunk and ticket looking for platform 9 ¾ to board her train. The reaction of the Dursleys when she had gotten home had been hilarious. At first Vernon had looked ready to strangle her until Kendra had appeared. Immediately he had backed off, not sure what to do about the watery creature. All three of the Dursleys had paled when she had morphed in front of them into a see-through, much larger, water copy of a king cobra and hissed at them, just daring them to try something. It took all Maria had not to burst out laughing when the watery cobra struck like lightning at the sandwich in Dudley's hand, engulfing it whole into her watery body in a few seconds. They had watched in horrid fascination as the sandwich dissolved in her see-through body until it was completely gone. She hissed at the Dursleys again before disappearing under Maria's clothes. Needless to say, the Dursleys had left her alone after that incident.

The girl looked around the train station as she went through the instructions McGonagall had given her again. She simply had to walk into the pillar between platforms nine and ten. She made her way over, noticing a large group of redheads near the entrance. It looked like a family group, with the mother being particularly loud. She was complaining about muggles and fussing over her apparent children. 'I knew wizards lacked common sense, but she's really pushing it," Maria thought as she entered the platform.

Immediately she saw dozens of people in robes, getting on the train, loading up their luggage, or saying good-byes to family members. Deciding not to idle, she carried her trunk to the loading area. Her trunk was her mother's with many additional protections she had had added to it. She had returned to Diagon Alley to pick up the audit personally, not trusting mail. When she had returned home after the first time after learning how famous she was, she had wondered why she had never gotten any fan mail or been visited by any friends of the Potters. True she had been hidden, but if her Hogwarts letter could get to her than why not anything else? That raised some more disturbing questions that she would have to keep in mind for later. In any case, she had brought her mother's trunk to Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment for any and all upgrades as well as to Knockturn Alley for the same; she was taking no chances in Dumbledore's domain.

As she walked up to load her trunk, two identical looking redheads from the group before approached her. "Look at this Gred, a lady in need of assistance," one of them state jovially.

"Indeed it is Forge," the other replied before turning to Maria. "Allow us to assist you milady," he said with an exaggerated both before the two moved to pick up her trunk.

However, before they could Maria beat them to it, lifting it easily with one hand. Even with the feather-light charms, the trunk still was heavy as the Weasley twins knew. For this girl to lift it so easily was shocking. "Thanks guys, but I got it," she said as she hefted the trunk into the pile with the others. The two stood stunned as she turned and waved good-bye to them. "See ya around guys." The two red heads looked at each other in shock, wondering just who that was exactly.

Maria found an empty compartment and proceeded to start the audit information she had picked up. Kendra was curled up in her bottle snoozing for the time being. It was quiet for awhile until a noise broke the silence. The girl was surprised out of her reading by a loud croak coming from directly beneath her. Blinking in confusion, she bent down to see a rather large toad sitting in between her feet. 'Okay, I may not travel on trains much but I'm pretty sure toads don't frequent them,' she thought to herself in mild amusement as said toad stared back at her. She got a general agreement both from her mother and grandfather in her head who were also amused.

A moment later the door to her compartment opened. A girl with thick bushy brown hair poked her head in. "Sorry to bother you, but have you seen a toad? A boy named Neville lost his," she explained.

Maria pointed to the amphibian sitting between her feet. "Is this what you're looking for?"

The girl smiled and called down the hallway for the toad's owner. Immediately a slightly pudgy looking boy came in, happy to find his toad again. "Thank you for finding Trevor," he said sincerely.

Maria just smiled at the boy. "More like he found me. Care to join me?" she said motioning to the empty seats. The two smiled and did so, the girl sitting across from Maria while the boy sat next to the girl. "I'm Maria, nice to meet you," she said holding out her hand.

The bushy haired girl accepted the offered hand. "I'm Hermione and this is Neville," she said motioning to the boy now holding the toad. "So what do you think Hogwarts will be like?" she asked pleasantly.

Maria shrugged. "I haven't a clue. Up until my letter I lived with my aunt and uncle never knew a thing about magic," she said giving away no important information. While these two did seem friendly, Maria decided to be a little cautious as she was in very unfamiliar territory here, both literally and figuratively speaking.

The girl nodded, "I'm the first witch in my family so I guess we're in the same boat. I've been reading as much as possible so I don't fall behind those who lived with magic." Maria nodded at Hermione's logic, doing the same herself when she had the chance. The two started to converse, with Neville adding his two cents worth here and there. Eventually their topic turned to comparing magical subjects to their non-magical counterparts. Their conversation was interrupted when a red-headed boy poked his head into the cabin.

"Can I come in, everywhere else is full," he asked. Immediately Maria's eyes narrowed at him. This was one of those red-heads he saw earlier and she could tell he was lying. This train was huge; there were more than enough seats for someone to sit in even if he had been the last person on board. There was also the fact that his entire body language was screaming liar. Lying and deceiving had been a common thing in Rapture and many from there knew how to spot it. Lastly was the fact that he came in and sat down without waiting for a reply. He held out his hand to her first, "Ron Weasley."

Maria tentatively shook his hand. "Maria Potter," she said evenly, waiting to judge his reaction.

Everyone's eyes widened, Ron's most of all. "Blimey! Do you have it then? You know the scar?" he said as his gaze fell on her forehead.

Immediately, Maria frowned as her eyes flashed yellow, though none but Hermione caught it. She immediately grabbed him by the front of his shirt and hauled him to his feet with ease. Having enhanced strength and being taller than him by a couple of inches helped. "Get out," she said lowly.

"What," he exclaimed in surprise.

"I have no desire to associate with someone who simply sees me for this stupid scar and whose first sentence to me is a lie," she stated coldly as she threw him out of their compartment with one hand.

"Hey, you can't do that," Ron exclaimed indignantly. He was about to rage until he saw the cold glare he was getting from her. He would swear her eyes glowed an eerie yellow around the edges. Losing his nerve he immediately left down the hall.

Maria went back into the cabin to see Neville and Hermione staring at her. "You shouldn't have done that. What if you get into trouble?" the bushy haired girl asked concerned.

The green-eyed girl just smirked. "I doubt it. One we're not even in school yet nor have we been sorted, so they can't punish me for that, and two, I doubt he'll admit to being manhandled by girl." Hermione had to admit she did have a point. Maria sat down and they resumed their conversation, moving onto the possible biology of magical creatures. Apparently Hermione studied everything and anything. Maria figured she had finally found a real friend.

The train ride went on without further incident. Eventually they came to Hogwarts castle. It was truly a sight to see, though Maria preferred the modern look of mundane cities. Whether that came from living in the muggle world or having memories of Rapture at its peak, she didn't know. She just hoped this medieval throwback had basic plumbing or she would be on this train heading back to London before you could say Hocus Pocus.

They assembled onto boats with her, Neville, Hermione, and another girl with honey blonde hair who seemed to have a strange look on her face as she stared at Maria. The Adam-infused girl could feel the stare but did nothing as the girl didn't seem like a threat. Also, she wasn't staring at her scar, but at Maria herself, which was odd but there was nothing she could about it now. They were eventually led to the front of the main hall where McGonagall was waiting for them. "Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room.  
'The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarted yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." Her eyes lingered for a moment on Maria as thoughts of the girl's questions came back to the forefront for a moment before she pushed them back for now. "I will return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."

After the Professor left, Maria looked over the other first years. Interestingly, she was the tallest there, almost looking like a second year among them. One boy with very pale blonde hair spoke up. "So, Maria Potter has come to Hogwarts," he stated looking right at her. Maria gazed back coolly, saying nothing. "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I am Draco Malfoy and I can help you there," he arrogantly said as he offered his hand to her.

The emerald-eyed girl gazed at him for a moment before speaking. "That is probably true Malfoy. However given that I am rather new to all this, I would like to wait and make judgments for myself if it's all the same to you. I will keep your offer in mind for later though, that okay?" she asked as she shook his hand. While she knew his father was a Pureblood purist and a Death Eater, there was a chance that his son wasn't. Besides, the old adage of keeping your friends close and your enemies even closer still rang true.

Their handshake was broken by Ron once again intruding. "How can you shake his hand?" he asked indignantly. "His father served You-Know-Who! He'll probably stab you in the back first chance he gets!" he argued.

Just as Draco was about to speak, Maria beat him to it. "Perhaps Weasley, but the actions of the father are not those of the son. Why should I blame Draco for things his father did when he wasn't even born at the time? Besides, Draco didn't attempt to lie to me in the first thing he ever said … unlike you," she stated as she glared down at him. All the first years looked at each other curiously, wondering what had happened exactly between Potter and Weasley. Draco himself was surprised at her words. She knew his father had been a Death Eater but didn't hold it against him. That would make things interesting later.

The chattering was broken as McGonagall returned and led them into the Great Hall to be sorted and to start their first year at Hogwarts.

AN: Hope you all enjoy this. I've got a number of ideas for the future and we'll see how they play out. Please Read and Review and Merry Christmas!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy.

Little Big Sister

By Demonabyss

Chapter 4: School Days

The first years entered the Great Hall, most of them looking around in wonder. Hermione was one of them, leaning over to Maria as they gazed up as the star light ceiling. "It's enchanted that way, I read about it in Hogwarts, A History," she explained.

The taller girl nodded. "Interesting, I wonder if it changes with the weather or the holidays," she asked quietly. The bushy-haired girl shrugged, not knowing the answer to that one. Maria then looked in front to see the teacher's table. She could see McGonagall and few others who stood out to her. The first, being the old man in the center looking like Gandalf from Lord of the Rings or possibly Merlin, Dumbledore. Despite it being eleven years later, her mother's memories provided a clear image of him. The others she also recognized from her mother's memories as being in the Order of the Phoenix. Filius Flitwick, Severus Snape, and Pomona Sprout were some she recognized.

Among a couple others she noticed was a huge man with a big beard. Unlike her uncle who was simply a fat whale, this guy was truly huge over all. According to her mother's memories, that was Rubeus Hagrid, groundskeeper for Hogwarts. Nice guy over all, but a staunch Dumbledore supporter and not the sharpest tool in the shed some times. There was also one other who caught her attention, the professor sitting next to Snape in a turban. She could feel that black chain in her mind react, as if something on the other end was tugging on it, trying to get through the gates she had created and failing miserably at that. She shook it off as she concentrated on the ceremony.

Professor McGonagall stood in front next to a stool holding an old, worn wizarding hat. "Come up when your name is called. I place the Sorting Hat on your head and you will be sorted into your appropriate house," she explained. Maria's eyes narrowed at that, wondering how a hat was supposed to sort them into the house they'd be stuck with for the next seven years. Before she could think further on the subject, McGonagall called out a name, "Abbot, Hannah."

A girl went up and sat on the stool. The hat was placed on her head and seemed to come alive, moving and muttering before calling out in a loud voice, "Hufflepuff!" The table with yellow clapped as a new student joined their ranks.

The sorting went on, some going into each house with the hat calling it out each time. It then came to Hermione. "Granger, Hermione." The bushy haired girl nervously went up. The hat was placed on her head and a few moments later, "Ravenclaw!"

The sorting continued on, with Malfloy in Slytherin and Neville in Hufflepuff, until her name was finally called. "Potter, Maria."

The whispers immediately started from all around her as she walked up. "Potter did she say? Is it really her? Do you see the scar? Wonder where she's been all this time."

Maria ignored them and sat on the stool. When the hat was placed on her head, the reaction was immediate. It stiffened and shook violently, much to everyone's surprise. Maria could feel it trying to poke through her head but really couldn't move due to her defenses, specifically the water. The pressure froze it in place, keeping the hat from doing its job. Deciding to give the piece of cloth a break, she sent the image of a Big Daddy to retrieve it and bring it into the halls of her mind. The hat itself was represented by a dark-haired young man wearing a copy of its self. With it being a hat and thus no need to breath in the real world, it couldn't experience the sensation of drowning, but it could feel the pressure of the water and thus couldn't move, even with all its experience and will trying to alter this mental reality so it could. Once the hat was in the halls it started to speak. 'Well, Miss Potter, that is certainly surprising. Never have I encountered mental defenses like that. Nor have I ever encountered a mind like this,' it spoke to her mentally.

She smirked to herself. 'Let's just say there's more to my history than most people know,' she thought back.

'Indeed,' the hat responded. 'Now then let's get you sorted. I will need to see some of your memories in order to sort you properly. Don't worry, nothing you show me will be revealed to anyone else.' Maria accepted that and a moment later a Little Sister appeared in front of the hat followed by a Lancer type Big Daddy. The hat raised an eyebrow at the sight and cautiously made his way to the little girl representing a part Maria's memories. It glanced at the armored Big Daddy, holding a glowing weapon aimed right at it. The hat was under no illusions that this … defense wouldn't fry it in a second if it tried anything funny. The other one that had brought him in, similar but apparently more crudely designed, also stood guard, its pointed drill ready to attack at the first sign of treachery. The hat knew that it had to do its job right despite the Headmaster's orders to sort her into Gryffindor. While technically it still had to obey the Headmaster, it knew that the girl would make good on her obvious threat and the hat had no desire to become nothing more than a moldy cut of cloth.

The hat gently touched the Little Sister and saw some of Maria's key memories. It saw her time at the Dursleys, manipulating them for her own benefit, analyzing all the information about herself, her parents, and what had happened that night. What it saw most of all was her thirst to know, to know about herself and this world, to know about her family both magical and otherwise, and her drive to progress, to move forward … to evolve. There was no doubt in the hat's mind where this girl should go. It pulled out of Maria's mind, glad to be away from those defenses and called out her new house. "Ravenclaw!"

Maria smiled as the hat was taken off and made her way to the blue table, sitting next to Hermione who was smiling at her. The table clapped loudly as a few were shocked. Most had believed she would have ended up in Gryffindor or possibly Slytherin. Some had considered Ravenclaw, but not many. Two of the most surprised were Dumbledore and Snape. Snape was surprised due to McGonagall's prediction being correct. He had severely doubted her when she said the girl would likely end up in either Ravenclaw or Slytherin, but it proved to be true. It made him wonder what other surprises the girl would cause. Dumbledore on the other hand was furious though he showed none of it. He needed a Gryffindor heroine, not a Ravenclaw one. Still, better Ravenclaw than say Hufflepuff or Merlin forbid Slytherin. 'It seems the Weasleys were unable influence her before or on the train. I will have to modify my plans,' he thought before taking the podium and addressing the students. "Before we begin the feast, I have a few start-of-term announcements. Please note that the Dark Forest is forbidden to all. Also our caretaker Mr. Filch has asked me to remind you that the third floor corridor on the south side of the school is out of bounds to those who do not wish to die a most painful death. Now then, let the feast, begin," he said as he waved his arms, the tables filling with food.

Immediately people dug in as students around Maria introduced themselves. Cho Chang, Padma Patil, Roger Davis, Lisa Turpin, Luna Lovegood, and Penelope Clearwater were all friendly to her and Hermione. As they ate, Maria turned to Penelope. "Hey Penny, who's that professor in the turban and the one next to him?" she asked.

"Oh that's Professor Quirrell. He teaches Defense against the Dark Arts. The one next to him is Professor Snape who teaches potions. He's the head of Slytherin house and tends to favor them blatantly, especially against Gryffindors. He doesn't really bother our house though," she explained. Maria nodded and kept eating.

Later they were all led to their dorms where she met Professor Filius, their head of house. They were showed their dorms however Maria stopped the diminutive professor before heading to her dorm. "Professor, could I ask you a few questions?" she said tentatively.

"Of course, what do you wish to know?" he replied cheerily. Many of the other first years and older years stayed, curious as to what she was going to ask about.

"Is it normal to have an entire section of the school closed off under penalty of death?" she asked simply.

Flitwick blinked for a moment before catching on. "I'm sorry Miss Potter, but I will not answer anything about the third floor corridor," he stated calmly.

Maria just turned to one of the seventh years, "Has this ever happened before in your time here?" The seventh year shook her head. "Has anyone here ever heard of something like this before?" The general response was negative. "Then I take it this hasn't happened before?" This time the response was affirmative. She then turned back to the small professor who was slightly stunned at her immediately going to another source to answer her question. "Next question, how long has Dumbledore worked here at Hogwarts and how often does he interact with the students?" she asked surprising everyone, who were confused as to where she was going with this.

The half-goblin professor blinked in surprise for a moment before answering. "He's worked here for decades, first as a transfiguration professor and then as Headmaster. As for interacting with students, not as much now as when he was a professor, but he does get regular reports from professors on how things are going in the school."

The emerald-eyed girl was silent for a moment before speaking. "Then why did he all but dare the students to go into a place that is probably very dangerous?" she asked seriously, stunning everyone. Most were confused but Hermione explained it.

"Professor, according to psychology, the muggle study of human thought and action, when you tell someone not to do something but give a poor or unclear reason, people will naturally do that thing to find out why," she explained. Many of the purebloods and half bloods were surprised at the explanation and planned to look more into muggle studies when they got a chance.

Maria nodded. "Exactly, and given what I've heard about Gryffindor and Slytherin, it's only a matter of time before someone tries to enter that hall. Plus, if it's as dangerous as the Headmaster implied, then someone is going to get seriously hurt or even killed due to him practically pointing the way," she stated. "The fact that you won't say anything about the corridor leads me to believe you know what this all about, which further leads me to believe most if not all the professors know about this," she stated calmly, shocking everyone

Filius Flitwick stood there stunned at the much taller girl. When Minerva said she was surprising, she hadn't been kidding. This girl within just a short time after hearing the Headmaster's speech and asking a few questions pointed out all the dangers that the professors themselves had about hiding something at Hogwarts with those protections there. She had also figured out that at least some of the professors were in on this. He could see why the Hat had put her in Ravenclaw with analytical abilities like that. He sighed before speaking again. "I'm sorry Miss Potter, but the Headmaster has forbidden me from saying anything more on the corridor."

"So the Headmaster is the one who set this all up, wanting to either hide or protect something in that corridor, yet all but points to where the thing is. It's almost like he wants someone to try and break into the corridor. There's also the fact that this hasn't ever happened before and yet it does the same year I enter Hogwarts. Not too seem self-absorbed, but given my … unique history, that seems a little suspicious doesn't it," she stated, again stunning everyone there. Immediately all the Ravenclaws' minds were all working at what she had stated and were coming to similar conclusions, none the least of which was Flitwick himself.

Maria smirked to herself as she saw many of the younger and older Ravenclaws looking at her in a renewed light. Many had originally saw her as the heroine from many of the books they had read, thinking her to be a quintessential Gryffindor. Instead, she had just proved herself to be an exemplary Ravenclaw with her quick analysis and conclusions. That her conclusions were reached with information everyone had, made them even more believable. Already she was building her power base in her own house, the most intelligent of the four houses, by displaying her own intelligence. The fact that she had also started to undermine their indoctrinated worship of Dumbledore by pointing out his tactical flaws was also a nice bonus. Soon the rumors would circulate and most would start to question what was really going on. Questions by the children would eventually become questions by their parents, which would have many questioning Dumbledore's actions. She knew that he would repel them, but the seeds of doubt would be there for her and others to use in the future.

The next day classes began. Maria and Hermione walked together, excited at what they would learn. Over the course of the day, they found some classes better than others. Defense Against the Dark Arts was a joke as far as Maria was concerned, Professor Quirrell was hardly teaching them a thing due to his stuttering. He was hiding something, Maria could instantly tell due to his fake nervousness. The culmination of Rapture's medical experts in her head noticed the subtleties of his body language and the fact that when questioned, he claimed that his turban was a gift from an African prince, which she seriously doubted due to how ragged it looked.

History of Magic would have been an interesting subject. If it wasn't for the act that the teacher, Professor Binns, was literally dead boring she'd have thought that a ghost would be more eager to talk about the past but apparently they were stuck with the one that was naturally boring. He didn't even notice that his classes had pretty much become nap-time. Even Hermione and the other Ravenclaws had a difficult time staying awake and most chose to simply read their book. Maria also wondered why they would have a ghost on the payroll if he was paid at all. If he wasn't than the school was just being cheap, if on the other hand he was being paid, what good would money do him? He couldn't touch anything so what would be the point? She'd have to ask Flitwick or McGonagall later about that.

Charms was a fun lesson. Flitwick was a pleasant and helpful teacher to learn from as they practiced the levitation charm. Personally she preferred her telekinesis plasmid as it was easier, quicker, and more powerful than the charm. Still it was just the start of the first year so she'd wait and see before making any conclusions.

In Transfiguration Professor McGonagall, immediately gave the impression that she was not someone to mess with. "Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts, anyone messing around in my class will leave immediately and no come back. You have been warned." That lesson they were to try and turn a matchstick into a needle, by the end of the lesson most of the Ravenclaws had been able to do it. Maria wondered about the limitations of transfiguration and if she could use it to create the equipment she needed for her Adam experiments. If the matchstick exercise was any indication then it was possible. If not, then she'd have a lot of mail ordering to do.

Astronomy was an interesting lesson in of itself, however the wizarding textbooks were a bit too dated for Maria's or any of the muggle-raised tastes and had replaced them with non-magical ones much to the surprise of Professor Sinistra, when asked about why she had them her reply was simple, "Your books are good and all, but even the basic non-magical equivalent it better. They even have an immensely powerful telescope in space itself sending back color pictures of numerous galaxies in the universe and have records of when people went to the moon," she explained. When the professor read through one of the books that she had, she admitted that they were indeed better and even asked if she could borrow them later which Maria agreed to easily.

Herbology was another interesting class that also offered new possibilities for her Adam research. Plants that were able to act on their own such as the Whomping Willow or the Devil's Snare were of interest to her. Analyzing their genetics would prove very interesting.

Things got even more interesting during Potions class with Professor Snape. It started when he was reading off names for the class and got to Maria's. "Ah yes, Maria Potter. Our new … celebrity." When he finished the register Snape stood up and addressed the class, "You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making, as there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses … I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death – if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

Maria had to admit that the guy knew how to throw sales pitch for his subject, she himself knew at how dangerous normal chemicals were, let alone their magical counterparts were. The possibility of using them in her research nearly made her drool at the possibilities. Hell, the thought of what a few drops of Adam or Eve in one of these potions made her quiver in delight. She was broken out of her genetic manipulation fantasy by Snape suddenly stopping in front of her and staring her in the eye, entering her mind, big mistake.

As soon as he entered her mind it took all his will not to be crushed from the sudden water pressure or have his eyes burned from the salt water despite the shock. Even being more or less paralyzed, he could see what looked like a massive muggle city on the bottom of the ocean he was in, lit up with people walking around in the buildings. The potions professor was shocked as he had never encountered defenses like this before. Most people built a castle or house and defended that as that was all his or her mind needed. For someone to create an entire city, especially one as complex as this seemed, and put it underwater was nothing short of stunning. However, he couldn't stay to marvel at this feat of mental construction as another of the girl's defenses was already homing in on him. A shark, a massive shark big enough to scare even Hagrid was swimming right towards him followed by several other deadly ocean predators. If Snape hadn't been scared out of his mind, figuratively speaking, he would have marveled at the girl for using a megalodon as a mental defense. Deciding to cut his looses and not become brain dead, he pulled out of her mind.

Snape shook his head as he pulled out of the girl's mind. Though the entire interaction had only lasted a fraction of a second in real time, the experience was vividly clear to the potions master. He continued on with the class, showing the instructions on the board and having them take notes as he mentally went over what had happened. Though he was a master in the mind arts, he had been taken completely by surprise. He had no idea how to get past defenses like that. The water had been crushing, like being sat on by Hagrid except it was all over. It had taken all his will to override her mental reality so that he wasn't instantly killed. Adding that shark was nearly overkill. He would have to inform the headmaster of this. As much as he disliked the man at times, he didn't want him to be brain dead from having his mind either crushed by water pressure or eaten by a shark the size of the Knight Bus.

Maria sneaked through the halls of Hogwarts, dressed completely in black with her face and head covered completely. Even her eyes were covered with darkened goggles to prevent them from being seen if they started to glow again. Despite this and having no light source, she could see perfectly due to a couple of extra tonics she had taken. It was her third night at Hogwarts and she was heading towards the third floor corridor. She hadn't been kidding when she had told Flitwick it was just a matter of time, though it was much sooner than the small professor had probably thought. With her enhanced strength and speed, she was easily able to jump across when the staircases moved. It was also helpful when she was tracked by Filch's cat Ms. Norris. The furball was smart, she'd give the cat that, but it couldn't keep up with her or follow her when she jumped from one staircase to another. 'Something is going on here and it's centered around whatever is in that corridor,' she thought as she made her way there. For now she was doing scouting, to determine what she might need. While she had figured the professors were in on this, she had no idea how. Where they merely informed or had they been more involved? Once she had an idea of what she was up against, she'd make a run for the object and use it as evidence against Dumbledore or if possible for her own goals.

The girl came to the door and opened it. She was surprised to find that it wasn't even locked. 'I'm really starting to question the common sense of wizards,' she thought to herself, her grandfather Delta moaning in agreement in her mind. Maria opened the door and went in. Imagine her surprise when she found three large canine heads, each large enough to bite a full grown person in half with a single bite, all connected to a single large body and all growling at her. What she was facing was a Cerberus. "Well, you don't see that every day," she commented as she stood up to the beast.

AN: For those wondering, a Megalodon was an ancient ancestor of modern sharks. They're pretty much the same creature, just that the Megalodon is about the size of a bus.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy.

Little Big Sister

By Demonabyss

Chapter 5: Theories

Maria contemplated what she had discovered the previous night as they worked on homework and discussed the situation. When she had discovered beyond the door to the third floor corridor presented an odd puzzle. The Cerberus beyond the door had nearly taken her head off had she not shoved the massive creature away using telekinesis. After which she had immediately retreated until she could figure out a strategy.

Her first thought had been to talk to Hagrid as he was the only one in Hogwarts who would have anything to do with an animal like that. However, the half-giant was notorious for being unable to keep a secret and thus it was likely her questions would be reported to the headmaster which she did not want. That left her with the problem of how to get past the three-headed dog. 'Okay Maria, take it one piece at a time. It's basically a guard dog, granted a very big dog, but a dog all the same. So possible solutions would be to distract it, knock it out, or befriend it,' she thought to herself. While there was also the option of outright killing the thing, that would cause too much of a commotion and she didn't need that kind of hassle. Besides, it was too cute to kill. While distracting or knocking the thing out would be quicker, they weren't guaranteed nor were they the safest. Befriending the thing would take time, but would have the most benefits in the long term. The less damage to the dog, the less likely anyone would think anything was initially wrong when she took whatever was down there.

Now the question remained, what other possible defenses would be set up down there? With Hagrid involved, it was pretty much a given that the other professors were in on this given his inability to keep secrets. Since Hagrid was an expert in rare and dangerous magical creatures, it only made sense that any other professors involved would use their areas of expertise for setting up the defenses. Sprout would probably use deadly plants, McGonagall some type of transfiguration, Flitwick charms, etc. There was also the problem of her using magic or her plasmids. Despite magic users having a distinct lack of common sense, they did have enough to be able to detect spells done by other users. The easiest way to avoid that would be to use someone else's wand which she could easily steal. Maria wasn't sure about her plasmids though and if those could be detected by magic. Her mother's memories pointed to it being very unlikely as they were science based abilities, not magical. Either way, Maria planned to use them sparingly and would instead gather some supplies to help break through the possible defenses. Supplies that would include rope, a crowbar, lock picking tools, gasoline, matches, certain acids, and possibly a blow torch. While electronics had problems working around magic heavy areas, machines or tools that didn't rely on them worked fine so she would use those. Besides, she doubted wizards would take common muggle tools into consideration when designing defenses for a magical object.

Over the next two weeks, she had discovered the entrance to the kitchens and every night after everyone was asleep, she would sneak down, get some raw meat from the house elves with the excuse that she was helping Hagrid with one of his animals, not technically a lie, go to the corridor and feed and play with the Cerberus. He was actually a big puppy once you calmed him down enough. In that time, she and Hermione continued to have various discussions comparing the magic world to the mundane. They were joined by Luna Lovegood, the same sandy-haired girl who had first arrived with them on the boats. Luna was certainly different. She often spoke of creatures that few if anyone had heard of and was in a perpetual dreamy state. Despite this, she provided an interesting sound board for herself and Hermione with her knowledge of the wizarding world. Most of their discussions led to the conclusion that while individually speaking a wizard could beat a muggle, as a whole and as a society muggles left wizards in the dust. Muggles had far superior means of communication, organization, firepower when looking at what various militaries could do, and most importantly to Maria, far superior progression. Muggles always tried to move forward and improve things, to discover new things and push boundaries. Wizards on the other hand seemed content to remain in the dark ages and refused to see what muggles were capable of. The emerald-eyed girl snorted, knowing they'd probably change their tune very quick if they saw the destructive power of a tank or a jet or even a nuclear bomb. Let's see an unforgivable curse top one of those.

At the moment they sat in the Ravenclaw common room with Maria trying to convince Hermione that Dumbledore was not what he seemed. "Look Hermione, I know the guy did a lot of great things, but you have got admit that something weird is going on here," Maria said forcefully.

The bushy-haired girl sighed. "I know a few things seem odd, but it's not the weirdest thing for a school to close down a section for some reason or another. Maybe they're remodeling or something," she tried.

"Under the threat of a very painful death?" Maria responded quizzically. "Doesn't that seem a bit odd to you? There's also the fact that no one's talked about what's behind that door," she added.

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "What does that have to do with it?"

"Hermione, you said it yourself. Without a good reason to back them up, people will ignore orders and warnings to find out why they were given. It's been weeks since school started and yet no one has talked or apparently attempted to get past that door. I have yet to hear a single thing about it." Hermione had to agree with that, given how quickly the Hogwarts rumor mill worked.

"So what do you think is going on? So far all you've deduced is that something unique is going on with that corridor and at least most of the professors are in on it with Dumbledore being the organizer," Hermione pressed, wondering what her friend had come up with. Ever since she had become friends with Maria Potter, she had learned to question everything; especially since she pointed out that the history books written about her had no real source … or accuracy for that matter. If there was one thing the bushy-haired girl hated, it was falsified facts in sources most people took as gospel.

Luna spoke up at that point. "Well, it's safe to say that he's either protecting or containing something. Given that Hogwarts has some of the strongest wards anywhere around, it's more likely he's protecting something. Wonder what that could be. Must be something important in order to put everyone here at risk," she said off hand.

Hermione looked at her sharply. "What do you mean put at risk? He's a professor, he wouldn't do that," she stated firmly, reverting to her normal mode of authority figure worship.

Maria sighed before speaking. "Look at the facts Hermione. He's hiding something important in a school full of students; ages ranging 11 to 18. Either the object or whatever protections it has is dangerous enough to cause "a very painful death." If that thing has protections while inside Hogwarts, that means Dumbledore expects someone or something getting into Hogwarts to get at it. Think about it, do you honestly think that someone who can get past Hogwarts' wards will care about the students? To someone like that they would be collateral damage at best and hostages at worst," she said with conviction.

The other Ravenclaw sighed, not wanting to admit it, but Maria did have a point. She then thought of something herself. "Wait, if Dumbledore expects someone to come after that object and set up protections, then that means he has an idea of who or what is coming after it."

Luna and Maria nodded. "It seems to me he's trying to trap someone," Luna said calmly. Both of the darker haired girls looked at her. "Well if he's protecting something, but all but points the way to it like you said to Professor Flitwick at the beginning of the year, it sounds like he's setting a trap of some sort. That also goes with what you just said, he expects someone to get into Hogwarts and has set up protections inside the school." She then paused as if just thinking of something. "I wonder; what the object is down there?"

Maria intertwined her hands and rested her chin on it in thought. "I don't think the object itself is dangerous. Dumbledore set this up with the help of the professors, meaning they agreed to it and none of them strike me as the types to bring something dangerous in a school. Whatever is down there is valuable, but not dangerous in and of itself." They were all in agreement before turning to finish their homework.

Dumbledore sat in his office, concerned about the reports he was getting about Maria Potter. So far she was being the quintessential Ravenclaw and even worse was she was already asking questions that he didn't want answered. Already the portraits were informing him that people were asking questions about the corridor and why he would put something that could cause death in a school and practically tell everyone where to go. The worst part was that Maria herself had started these questions. 'It seems I have underestimated her,' he thought to himself. He thought back to what Filius had told him about what had happened after the sorting feast. The girl had immediately started asking tough questions, gathering information, and pointed out many flaws in his announcements. He hadn't been questioned by anyone in the magical world in decades and now they it was starting to happen in his own school and he didn't like it at all. Questions meant thinking and that usually meant individual views, which would tear apart the magical world. Only a single unified view would allow the magical world to survive.

Next was the report from Snape. Her mental defenses worried him greatly. He had always employed passive Legilimency on students to learn about them and manipulate them so that they would all but worship him when they got older, to keep their views united for the greater good. If her defenses were as strong and dangerous as he described, Dumbledore would have no end of trouble manipulating her to what he needed her to be. Those defenses would also lessen the effects of potions used on her which he sometimes employed on certain students when needed. He sighed as he sucked on a lemon drop. 'If only Weasley had befriended her on the train,' he thought in dismay. Originally he had planned to have the boy befriend her and eventually have the two marry in order to keep her under control. Now that part of his plan was thoroughly dead. The boy had said she had thrown him out of the cabin after she had introduced herself. Given what he saw in the boy's mind; that was only partially true. What he saw indicated that despite her age, the girl would catch even the tiniest discrepancy and tear it apart to find the truth. Dumbledore would have to be careful with what information was given to her lest she decipher the truth about him.

Maria walked through the halls with a grin on her face as she eagerly anticipated her next run on the corridor while also searching for a specific student. She had ordered a number of things from a muggle hardware store that should be arriving soon. While she was sure the Dumbledore was watching her mail, she doubted he would care about any mail she sent to the mundane world. Once she had the orders she would make another run for the item on the third floor. Given the time it takes for orders to the muggle world to come through by owl mail and how much she had ordered, she predicted making her run at the end of the month of September, in about a week. In the mean time she went over how things had been going in Hogwarts during the first month of the school year.

Hermione was quickly becoming someone she could relate to as the girl had an extreme thirst for knowing everything that rivaled those who had lived in Rapture. Like her, the bushy-haired girl had been ostracized due to being so intelligent among other things back in the muggle world. Oh yes, the two had quite a bit of fun tearing through the Hogwarts library for research material, especially on transfiguration. While Maria had ordered some heavy and sophisticated research equipment through Gringotts, being able to "customize" her own equipment would be extremely useful once she started her research. The ideas she had for her plasmids made her drool, she had already made many of the calculations necessary to modify them and now only needed the equipment to do so … well that and figuring out how to get technology to work around magic, but that was just a matter of time.

Draco since meeting him hadn't really bothered her. He had mostly taken to watching her from afar. Apparently she had surprised him that first day by not being a Gryffindor or immediately affiliating him with Death Eaters. He had tried to listen in on her conversations with Hermione and Luna, deciding to hold his tongue around the "mudblood" and "blood traitor", but had a hard time following them with all the muggle and science references. For the time being they had a cool relationship which was fine with her.

However, on the other side of the spectrum was Ron Weasley. The idiot could not take a hint. More than once he tried to get into their conversations and or get them away from the library. Each time Maria had refuted him using terms far above his intellect or had simply thrown him out of their way physically. Though she had to be carefully not to hurt him too much less someone catch on that she was a lot stronger than normally possible.

Everyone else was friendly with her despite being so much different than what they had expected. After her initial questioning of Dumbledore in the Ravenclaw common room and the questions spreading throughout the school, many now respected her intelligence and understood why she had gone into Ravenclaw instead of Gryffindor. They also learned very quickly not to assume anything about her based on the so called biographies published about her. Doing so only resulted in them looking foolish.

The emerald-eyed girl soon found who she was looking for, a first year Hufflepuff named Susan Bones. "Excuse me, Susan? Could I speak with you?" she asked kindly. The brunette turned and was surprised to see the much taller girl in front of her. "I'm Maria Potter," she said kindly holding out her hand.

Susan shook it, though a little confused. "I know. I'm Susan Bones. So what can I do for you?"

Maria handed her a letter addressed to Amelia Bones. "I want you to send this to your aunt as soon as you can, but please be as discreet about it as possible." The smaller girl took the letter in surprise.

"What is it and why are you giving it to me to send? Why not send it yourself?" the girl asked surprised and concern.

Maria grinned a little at the girl's immediate questions. Apparently she had found another who could think for themselves at least somewhat. From what Maria had seen, those types of people were rare in this world. "You know the questions circling around that I started just after the Sorting Feast?" Susan nodded, not sure what this was about. "I've started conducting an investigation of my own about the odd things that have been going on. So far all I have are theories based on what I can see going on in the castle. However, if any of my suspicions are correct, then Dumbledore could be putting the students at extreme risk with his actions," the black-haired girl said in all seriousness, causing the Hufflepuff's eyes to widen. "I want your aunt in on this because she's the Director of the DMLE and has the most spotless record of anyone in the Ministry. If Dumbledore is up to something illegal, then he's most likely taken precautions to avoid attention and given that I started the questions, he'll most likely screen any mail I send to anyplace in the wizarding world, especially to anyone in the Ministry. You have a much better chance of getting it to your aunt than anybody else and no one would think twice about it since she's your guardian. You can read and check the letter if you want, just promises not to discuss it with anyone other than your aunt or those you know are one-hundred percent trustworthy."

Susan was shocked at what the supposed Girl-Who-Lived was asking of her. She was trusting her to get this message to her aunt in order to help protect the school. While she had been brought up to revere Dumbledore, her aunt had also drilled into her innocent until proven guilty and to always check the facts. Her aunt had also taught her that no one was above the law and that included Dumbledore. She looked at the emerald-eyed girl who was waiting patiently. "Do you really think the Headmaster is putting the students in danger?" she asked timidly.

Maria sighed before speaking. "I can't confirm that, but all the facts I've gathered so far point to him at least unintentionally putting the students at serious risk. The fact that many of these events, such as the third floor corridor being off limits under threat of death, have never happened before in recent memory or have never been rumored to happen before is also suspicious. Add to that that all this is happening the same year I enter the school given my unique history stretches far more than even coincidence will allow," she explained calmly. "If it is nothing, then we'll find nothing. But if it is something dangerous, I'd like the DMLE to be on top of it."

The Hufflepuff nodded in agreement. "Alright, I'll help you on one condition." Maria raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "I want to help," she said simply.

The taller girl inwardly grinned. She had already solidified her standing in Ravenclaw, now to move onto the most loyal of the four houses. "Alright, you can help but please be discreet and careful. To start, just keep your eyes and ears open for anything that seems unusual or out of place, especially with Professor Sprout," she explained.

Susan's eyes widened immediately. Professor Sprout was the head of her house and a very nice lady. Everyone in their house liked and respected her greatly. "She'd never hurt anyone. You don't think she's helping with what you're talking about do you," she asked concerned.

Maria shook her head. "Honestly, everything I've seen so far points to Dumbledore primarily being the one behind this. Professor Sprout doesn't strike me as the type of person to put children in unnecessary danger if she can help it. While I doubt she or any of the other professors are fully aware of what Dumbledore is planning, I can't rule out anything without hard evidence. Until we find out one way or another, we're going to assume they've been acting under Dumbledore's orders without knowing everything." Susan nodded, innocent until proven guilty, just like her aunt had always said.

Maria smirked to herself. The more information she had the better she chance she had at pinning down what Dumbledore's real game was. Maria knew that what she had discovered so far was only one part of his game. In the mean time, she would study the current and past actions of both him and Voldemort. There were so many questions, a majority of them about that night. What had truly happened, why did Voldemort go after the Potters, how was Dumbledore able to respond to the murder so quickly, and what was his real stake in all this? 'One way or another, I will find the truth,' she thought to herself, with her mother and grandfather agreeing with her in her mind.

AN: I know Luna is supposed to enter a year later, but I needed someone to be the third person in this new trio, plus I have a unique idea in regards to both of them. Here's a hint, Eleanor wasn't the only Little Sister to escape Rapture and grow up.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy.

Little Big Sister

By Demonabyss

Chapter 6: Secret Agent Girl

Maria smiled as she opened the door to the third floor corridor. It was time to make a full run on the object hidden down there. It had been tricky to get to the corridor this time due to the extra gear she was carrying, but nothing she couldn't handle. As she entered, the Cerberus woke up and growled for a moment before recognizing the intruder. Immediately the dog started to nuzzle her affectionately, enough to knock a normal person down. The dog, which Maria had taken to calling Ares, was actually very friendly if he considered you a friend. Given that Maria was feeding each of the heads a large piece of meat; she was certainly a friend to this pooch. Interestingly, Ares had also become friends with Kendra, especially after the ashray transformed into a miniature, water version of the Cerberus and began to play with him.

As Ares munched on the meat, Maria opened the trapdoor and dropped a candle down to see what was below. As the light passed it immediately revealed vines, lots and lots of vines. 'Professor Sprout's defense. Looks like Devil's Snare from here. Still, can't take any risks since as far as these defenses are concerned I'm an invader. A magic user would use light or fire to get rid of these things which may or may not activate a secondary trap,' she thought as she pulled out a spray hose connected to a couple gallon tank of the strongest herbicide she could get. She began pumping the handle on the hose, causing the chemical to spray and cover the writhing vines. Immediately they start to react violently to the poison, flaying all over to get away from it in the crowded spot they had been planted. Maria just smirked as the vines immediately started to wither and die. Normally this stuff would take hours to work, but on plants that moved and thus had much more active systems than normal plants, it only took a few minutes. In no time at all they were all dead and harmless.

Maria jumped down and quickly inspected the vines. Most of them were dead with only a few left alive and staying as far away as possible from where she had sprayed the herbicide. 'Huh, no other traps. Odd,' she thought as she continued on. In her mind, Grandfather Delta warned about this being too easy and she had to agree. Something was certainly off here.

The next room stunned her for a moment before seeing the door. It was locked with a large rusted padlock that looked like it had seen better days. Above her were hundreds of keys with wings, flitting about like butterflies. Hovering a few feet above the ground perfectly still was a broom. The girl looked up and easily found the key matching the padlock among the hundreds flying up there. 'They can't be this stupid,' she thought in surprise. 'Who locks a door but then leaves the key out in the open for anyone to use,' she wondered as she ignored the broom and keys and went right for the padlock. There was no way she would be touching either of those as they could've easily been spelled to be a trap. All it would take would be a simple sticking charm to the broom to hold you in place until someone came or some type of curse on one of the keys. Instead Maria pulled out a can of WD-40 and sprayed it on the inside of the rusty lock to help loosen everything up as this thing looked like it needed a good deal of force to be manipulated. She then pulled out a manual pick gun, attached the correct pick and went to work. In a few minutes she opened the lock, smirking to herself as she did. 'Spelled against any type of unlocking spell or damage spell and it falls to a simple lock pick,' she chuckled enjoying the irony.

The next room was much grander than the previous two. This one had a vaulted ceiling and a large chess board with larger than life sized chess pieces. There were also remains of pieces behind each of the two groups meaning this was probably just like wizard's chess where the pieces did actual damage to one another. This defense looked like McGonagall's area of transfiguration. Maria frowned as she stared at the board, wondering what possible trap or traps could be laid here. 'Okay, I would guess that if I try to cross without playing that I'll be attacked. Chess is a time consuming game but also one of the most common games in the magical world. If I start playing that could set off an alert to someone,' she thought as she surveyed the area. A witch or wizard would either play their way through or blast their way through, so how about going around the obstacle.

The emerald-eyed girl scanned the walls of place, noting that they were carved to look like roman columns, giving plenty of grips to whoever would dare climb them. Smiling to herself, Maria ran over to them, making sure not to step on the board, and climbed up the side of the wall. Pressing her back to it, she sashayed along the edge, keeping a close eye on chess pieces closest to her. Seeing no reaction, she continued until she was above the door to the next room, jumped down and left, somewhat disappointed at how easy it seemed.

The next room was surprisingly empty of anything. There wasn't even a lock on the door leading to the next room. 'Apparently they haven't set all the defenses up,' she thought as she moved to the next room. By now she was really starting to wonder about all of this. It all seemed too easy to get by, for a magical person or otherwise. 'Guess Luna's idea of Dumbledore wanting to trap someone is right on the money,' she thought, 'meaning I'll have to be extremely careful in the last room.'

The next room held a large table with a stand holding seven bottles of various shapes filled with an unknown liquid. Behind the table was a wall of black fire and as soon as she entered a wall of purple fire appeared in front of the door. On the table was a parchment with writing on it.

_Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,_

_Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,_

_One among us seven will let you move ahead,_

_Another will transport the drinker back instead,_

_Two among our number hold only nettle wine,_

_Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line._

_Choose, unless you wish to stay here for evermore,_

_To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:_

_First, however slyly the poison tries to hide_

_You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;_

_Second, different are those who stand at either end,_

_But if you would move onwards neither is your friend;_

_Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,_

_Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;_

_Fourth, the second left and the second on the right_

_Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight?_

Maria snorted at the riddle. 'A logic puzzle. Looks like someone in the magical world is aware of their lack of logic. Still, anyone with enough brains could get past this so why do they lock the door but leave the key in the open for anyone to find?' she wondered to herself as she pulled out a pair of pliers. The girl had no intention of drinking or even touching any of the bottles as she had no reason to assume the parchment was telling the truth. For all she knew all of them were poison. She carefully picked up and set each bottle on the ground along with the parchment itself. Any or all of them could've been booby-trapped. Instead it was the table she wanted. The girl knew that chemistry tables had reinforced tops to be able to handle various chemical spills and potion tables were no different. Potion tables were spelled to stand up to all kinds of chemicals and spells and were heavily fire resistant, meaning this thing would make the perfect bridge over that fire. If not, she would have to risk the potions.

Picking up the heavy table, she hoisted it over to doorway and slid it across the black flames. She grinned as the flames were forced to wrap around the heavily warded piece of furniture. Moving quickly, she ran across her makeshift bridge to the other side and pulled the table across. No sense in risking her only way out burning before she was ready to leave. However, it looked unnecessary as the flames died away as soon as she entered the next room. 'Interesting,' she thought to herself as she turned to the next room.

There were no further doors in this room, marking it as the last room in the challenge. In the center of the room was a large ornate mirror. Walking up to it, she saw an inscription on the top. '_Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi. _You've got to be kidding me. _I show not your face but your heart's desire_?' she thought tiredly before looking directly at her reflection. 'Okay then, what I want most at the moment is the object hidden down here,' she thought forcefully. Immediately, her reflection started moving on its own, smiling at her and then pulling something out of one of her pockets that looked like a large, red gemstone, before putting it back. Immediately she felt something in the same pocket her reflection had put it into. Reaching in, Maria pulled out the same red gemstone.

She turned it around as she looked at it. 'A gemstone? All this fuss over an overgrown jewel?' she thought bewildered. Shrugging, she took the gem and inspected the room, finding no further passages; she turned to make her way back. She replaced the table and the potions to where they were before as she wouldn't need it seeing that the purple fire had died down with the black fire. Making her way past the chess set and the key room, she remembered to relock the padlock on her way out. After climbing up past the dead Devil's Snare, she was greeted by a large wet lick from Ares in triplicate. Maria smiled as she wiped off the slobber. "Nice to see you too boy," she said as she gave each head a good scratch. She then walked out of the room, her prize in her pocket.

Amelia Bones, head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, frowned as she read the letter sent to her from Maria Potter through her niece. While she had always knew Dumbledore a manipulator with his own agenda and generally an annoyance to her job, the things this letter was suggested bordered on sheer stupidity. To bring something into a school full of children that could lead to death alone was horrendous. But add to the fact that the extra "protections" were put in place meant that he expect someone to get into the school after said object, someone dangerous and thus putting the children at more risk.

"How could Minerva agree to this?" she wondered out loud as she drank her tea. It was obvious the professors were in on this which made it all even worse. She'd known most of them for many years and a majority, with the possible exceptions of Snape and Quirrell given one was a former Death Eater and the other was new, would never put the students in harm's way if it wasn't absolutely necessary.

This letter also revealed a bit about Maria Potter herself. To start, the girl was no fool. She had picked out the discrepancies in the Headmaster's words and actions from the get go and had come to some strange but logical conclusions. Next was that she knew to contact someone in authority she could trust with this, namely Amelia Bones herself, and to do it in an indirect and secure means. The letter also revealed one other thing that not many would pick up on. Maria Potter had it out for Dumbledore. The girl wanted to take the Headmaster down and hard. Why the DMLE head could only guess and would have to ask the girl if she ever got the chance. She was also sure that the girl would make a try at whatever was being stored in the corridor … and most likely get it. 'I'll have to keep my ears open for anything odd happening here in the Ministry,' she thought to herself as she took another sip of her tea.

Maria sat staring at the gemstone in her hand in her dorm that she shared with Hermione and Luna. She had taken a small sliver of it and examined it with both what science she could use in Hogwarts and what few scanning charms she had learned on her own. While initially the thing looked like a large gemstone, the actual structure was unlike anything she had seen before. The scans revealed this thing to be closely linked to transfiguration in some fashion. However, under the strongest microscope she could use here she noticed some … flaws. They were extremely small, even when magnified, but she could see them. She was so fixated on it that she failed to notice Hermione enter the dorm.

"What is that? Where did you get it?" she asked immediately, startling her friend out of her fixation.

The emerald-eyed girl looked at her friend for a moment before deciding to answer. "This Hermione, came from the third floor corridor. Apparently it was what was being guarded down there," she explained.

The bushy-haired girl's eyes widened. "You went down there! Are you mad? What if you were caught? You could've been killed or worse … expelled!" she exclaimed.

Maria raised an eyebrow and gave her friend an odd look before shaking her head. "Hermione, I was able to get this thing using no magic at all, just my wits and things anyone could get from a mundane hardware store. If those protections couldn't keep me out, do you honestly think they'd keep out a fully trained witch or wizard?" she asked, gaining the smaller girl's attention.

Hermione frowned and thought for a moment before asking, "Why don't you tell me exactly what those protections were and how you got past them without having to use magic." Her friend nodded and did so, explaining each room, what was there, and how she was able to get past each … obstacle. The more Maria explained the more Hermione frowned. At the end of it, she looked down in thought, running through it all in her head before speaking. "That does seem … too easy. A fully trained witch or wizard could've easily gotten past most of those obstacles with the possible exception of the potions, being based on logic, and the mirror, which was supposedly based on intent. So what is that thing?" she asked motioning to the stone in her friend's hand.

The taller girl shrugged. "That' what I'm trying to figure out. It supposedly worth enough to go through all this trouble to "protect" it but not valuable enough that Dumbledore doesn't mind risking the thing being lost to a dark wizard," she said as she turned it over.

"Maybe it only supposed to appear valuable?" Hermione suggested, causing her friend to look at her in surprise.

"A decoy?" she whispered to which Hermione nodded. Maria looked back at the gem. That made more sense and fit with the trap scenario. Never line a trap with bait you aren't willing to lose. "If that's the case, then what is this thing supposed to be even if it's fake? What single gemstone could Dumbledore have access to that would be worth all this trouble?" she asked rhetorically.

Her friend shrugged. "I don't know. As Chief Warlock of Wizengamont and Supreme Mugwump of the ICW, he'd have access to quite a few valuable artifacts."

Maria shook her head. "I don't think that's where this thing came from. If it was supposedly acquired through the government, then there'd be a paper trail and or someone else would know about this and he doesn't seem like the kind of man to leave loose ends like that. Plus, why would the Ministry allow something as important as this supposedly is to be guarded in a school when it was previously stored in a government building full of Aurors?"

"Would Luna have any idea?" Hermione asked her friend.

"Couldn't hurt to ask," she replied as the two went to find their friend.

Susan Bones sat in the Hufflepuff common room as she thought about what Maria Potter had asked her to do and of the girl herself. While she didn't like the idea of spying on her own house, she did understand the idea of gathering facts to prove innocence or guilt. Given the situation, she could understand the taller girl's concern. It was barely past the first month into the school year and already odd things were happening. Besides, it wasn't like she was actively watching people and discovering their darkest secrets, merely keeping her eyes and ears open for anything unusual or out of place. Case in point, what she had heard before during a conversation between two five-year students. Apparently something was killing unicorns in the forbidden forest. Not defenseless foals, but full grown adults. The way they talked it seemed like this hadn't happened before and that made the first-year Hufflepuff curious.

Unicorns were incredibly fast and magic resilient creatures. For something to kill a full grown one would have to be exceedingly powerful and or smart to do so. There was also the fact that most if not all wild creatures did not even attempt to do so due to the effect of unicorn blood. If it is taken unwillingly, then the blood will restore a being's life but curse them to be a half-life. Young unicorn's blood didn't have that effect and thus they were targeted by wild animals. For an adult to be killed, that meant a person had killed it or at the very least a fully sentient magical animal and those weren't very common, at least not so around Hogwarts. That meant that either a new one had taken up residence nearby or a human had killed the unicorn.

While unicorn horn and hair was used in potions and wands, there was never any need to kill them for it. Merely bind them and take it. Both the horn and hair would grow back in time, so for someone to kill one meant they were specifically after the blood. While the blood could be used in potions, it was done only if it was willingly given so that possibility was out. Susan's eyes widened as she realized something. The only way for someone to track and kill a unicorn for its blood like that is if they lived close to its territory, close to the Forbidden Forest, and there were only two places someone could do that, Hogsmead and Hogwarts.

When the girl thought about it; all the events happening at Hogwarts stretched coincidence to its limit. Maria Potter comes to Hogwarts, the third floor corridor is closed off under threat of "painful death", under the direction of Dumbledore, most likely to protect something, and now Susan just discovered that an adult unicorn was recently killed by something that was at least near or more likely in Hogwarts. All of the events had never happened before in anyone's memory and had now happened within the same month. 'I wonder what auntie will think when she hears all this,' she thought as she went to send a letter to her aunt and to inform Maria of what she had learned.

AN: Don't expect quick updates as I just started a new job, but I will update when I can.


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